Opinions & Interviews

Harsh measures promised in response to Lithuania’s decision to stop transit of Belarusian potash

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MINSK, 1 February (BelTA) – Prime Minister of Belarus Roman Golovchenko has made a few comments about the measures the Belarusian side intends to implement in response to Lithuania’s decision to stop the transit of Belarusian potash fertilizers, BelTA has learned.

Roman Golovchenko said: “Indeed, the Lithuanian side no longer lets in our trains, which transport potassium to the Klaipeda port for transshipment. The response measures will be harsh. As we say, we will respond symmetrically. The decision has been made, it will affect railway traffic originating from Lithuania’s territory. We’ve suggested a dialogue to Lithuanian colleagues in order to discuss the matter, our door is never closed. We’ve put forward a proposal to arrange consultations and determine our future mutual relations within the legal framework. We believe that by making the unilateral decision Lithuania violated the intergovernmental agreement on railway transport not to mention the documents that regulate transit for landlocked countries. We’ve suggested an option. If they don’t respond, we will enforce the response measures within the next few days.”

The Belarusian prime minister stressed that the Lithuanian economy is now incurring losses due to the decision that has been made, in particular, the transport industry (railways, the port). “We’d been preparing for the situation for a long time, rerouting our deliveries. Due to the longer logistics leg to the Russian Federation our producers have lost a bit of the profit margin but rising global prices will compensate for it. So, essentially we’ve lost nothing but the Lithuanian economy has. Moreover, we will recover the penalties we are due due to the termination of the shipment contracts by the Lithuanian side. The relevant suits have been filed. We will also recover lost profits. Those are large sums of money,” he noted.

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